A LOVELY REALIZATION & A LOVELY MISUNDERSTANDING
by ifreakinluvnalu
Summary: natsu tells gray he loves lucy. gray tells lucy. somehow along the road the words get mixed up and natsu and gray get hurt (physically) and lucy and natsu get hurt (emotionally). Loke has to get involved and fix the mess gray made. i guess in the end everything worked out for natsu and lucy.


HEY GUYS! IF U HAV READ THE STORY I POSTED BEFORE I AM GIVING U MY THX. IF U FAVORED IT I AM IN UR DEBT. IF U REVIEWED THEN THX FOR HELPIN ME BECOME A BTTR WRITER. I AM A DIE HARD NALU FAN SO OF COURSE THIS WILL BE NALU. IF YOU WNT ME 2 WRITE SUMN IN A DIFFERENT SETTIN TELL ME N I WILL. THX NOW PLZ ENJOY THE STORY. P.S. I DONT OWN FAIRY TAIL. IF I DID THE STORY WOULD ONLY BE ROMANCE AND I KNOW EVERYONE WANTS SOME FIGHTING SCENES IN THERE. :)

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**LUCY'S POV:**

the first thing i hear when i step into the guild is, "you wanna go at it ice freak?"

of course. this is fairy tail so why wouldn't i hear this every hour of every day. i went to my usual place at the bar. as usual, i sighed at the annoyance of not having any money for my rent, which was due this week.

"need rent money again huh?" the ice mage asked.

"yeah"i huffed

"hey luce, wanna go on a mission with me?" Natsu asked.

_god he is just so close to me. i can feel his heat radiating off him, now all that's left is... no, no lucy! stap out of it. you will not think about that stupid dream, _i thought as a blush threatened to come up my neck. i put my head down and said, "sure, when are we going?"

he put his hand on my shoulder and my face felt on flames. (i have been on flames before, only it didn't hurt and it wasn't hot. it was actually when we were fighting Grimoire Heart.) "are you ok luce?" he asked sounding concerened. _nice job lucy, first the dream then this? get a hold of yourself, he's just your nakama. _(friend)

"yeah yeah i'm fine" i said with a smile.

"not that i'm not glad you're not sick or anything, but when are we leaving?" Gray asked

"who invited you to come along, ice cube?" natsu growled

"is that Natsu and Gray fighting?" the scarlet headed girl asked.

"no," they said in unison,"we're just teasing each other," they said, acting as if they were the best of friends.

"so what's our mission this time Natsu?" Erza asked

"b-b-b-but..." natsu started

"is there a problem?" erza asked with a death glare.

"'course not" natsu grumbled as he handed the paper to erza

**please get rid of the bandits that keep making my costomers go away. thank you. the reward is 480,000. thank you.**

****"isn't the reward rather big for just a couple of bandits?" i asked curiously.

"i guess, but they'll see just how badly we'll beat them up!" natsu says excitedly

"aye!" agreed happy

"and isn't there someone we know who always says thank you?" i added.

they all tried remembering, but apparently none of them could remember. "really? no one? not even a certain someone whose wife had left him?" when they still looked at me weird i gave them one more hint, "someone who wouldn't let us come home and made us keep putting on a play over and over?"

with that said, they cought on. "so do you guys still wanna go?" i asked. if i thought for even a moment they would say never mind i so don't know them because the look they all gave me said duh.

"fine," i said

**after the mission**

"alright guys see you tomorrow," i said as i walked to my apartment and they walked to the guild to celebrate.

as i watched them leave from my window, i realized i actually didn't want them to leave. _to be more specific,_ _i don't want natsu to leave, _i thought before i caught myself. _damn it lucy! stop it. you're just gonna end up freaking him out, _i thought sadly. _still, imagining him loving me back doesn't hurt. _i stopped my train of thought, startled. _do i really love Natsu? my nakama? _the more i think about it the more i realize that i do truly love him. _since when do..._ i stopped my thought there as i realized that i had always loved him, but that i just never realized it. _now what? that dense fire breathing idiot probably doesn't even know what loving a person like that mean. _

**natsu's pov:**

_celebrating is just not the same without lucy here, _i thought. i went over to the bar and sat down on the lucy's stool. for some reason the thought of her being there before comforted me.

"what's up natsu? feeling down 'cuz lucy's not here?" mira asked

"yeah," i said with a frown," it's just not the same without her."

mira smiled and opened her mouth to say something when happy interrupted and said, "you llllllliiiike her."

i smiled and said, "duh, she's my nakama."

"no natsu," mira said as she shook her head," happy means in a more than friends kinda way."

i frowned at happy.

"what?" the oh-so-innocent-looking-cat asked.

"i don't like her like that," i told happy

"you're right," he said as i smiled,"you llllooooooove her"

i nearly fell out of the chair. "happy! you're supposed to be on my side and not helping mira with the match-making!" i exclaimed

"well,ok," mira started, i could tell this was not going to end well by the way she smiled (she was flashing her devil smile), "let's just say you _did _like her..."

"love," interrupted happy with the same look on his face that mira had

"ok, love," she said, " let's say you did _love her like that_ would you tell her how you feel?"

"i don't know," i answered confused. _what is up with all these questions all of a sudden? _i thought. _but if i did love her, _i thought, _it would explain why i always feel much more comfortable around her than anyone else, including happy. maybe..._

"how do you know when you're in love mira?" i asked wondering if maybe what i felt for Lucy really was love _in that way_

"well, it's like when you're with that one person you feel perfect. like the world could be destroying itself and as long as you're with that person it doesn't matter to you. it's when you're with that person and all you ever want to do for the rest of your life _is _to be with them. it's when as long as you're with that somebody, everything is going to be ok. it's when you realize that you would do anything and everything for that one person. that's when you know that you're in love." mira said with a smile

"oh," i said careful to not show any emotion on my face as i realized that i really was in love with lucy. it only took mira to point out what being in love was for me to realize that.

"well, i'm tired," i said making sure to keep my face blank, "catch up with me at home ok happy?"

"aye sir!"

**normal pov:**

what natsu didn't hear was when mira asked happy," you think he finally realized he's in love with her?"

"aye" said happy

"now, all we have to wait for is for him to tell her" mira commented

"you think he'll actually confess?" happy asked surprised,"i don't think Natsu has it in him"

mira smiled at the blue mage, "when a person is in love,happy, they'll do things they never thought they would do before"

"so mira," asked the blue cat with a devilish smile on his face, "have you ever been in love?"

mira turned redder than erza's scarlet hair

**natsu's pov:**

"ouch," i heard a familiar voice say

"watch where you're going idiot." i told Gray

"you're supposed to have the sensitive senses, flame breath," Gray answered

"well, i was too busy thinking about whether or not to tell lucy i love her," i accidentally said out loud. _crap, _i thought, _did i just say that out loud?_

"you... love lucy?" Gray asked

i sighed. _i do need someone who she trusts and who she doesn't question, _i thought.

"well, yes, but i need someone to ask her if she loves me back before i tell her how i feel so that way if she doesn't, it won't ruin what we already have as friends." i said, not realizing that of all people i was trusting _Gray _with this information.

"wow," Gray said, "wait, you love her in that way right?"

"duh," i said exasperated that i couldn't keep my mouth shut.

"i could find out for you," Gray said quietly

"thank you,"i said, realizing that Gray was doing something nice for me i decided not to push it.

"don't think that we're best friends all of a sudden 'cuz of this fire freak," Gray said, "i'm only doing this 'cuz i'm pretty sure she does love you back."

i smiled. "glad we're on the same terms, pervert," and with that we both walked away in seperate directions.

**lucy's pov:**

his hot kisses trailed down my neck. "luce," he whispered in my ear. "lucy," Natsu said more urgently.

"Lucy!" Gray exclaimed

"huh?" i sat up in bed. "gray! get out! can't you let a girl get her beauty sleep?"

"it's well needed on you too," he muttered

"what?" i said as i glared at him

"nothing," Gray said

"hey, um lucy?" Gray said seeming anxious

"what?" i said

"would you, ah, like to go to dinner with me tonight? at Sandy's Diner?" Gray asked me looking really nervous now

" you mean as a date or something?" i said blushing from the invitation on a date since it would be my first one.

"um, yeah" Gray said

"um..."i said, not sure what to say.

"it's ok, i understand," he said as he started to leave looking disappointed

_crap,_ i thought, _i feel super guilty. but it would be wrong for me to lead him on when i don't love him like i do Natsu. still maybe i could go with him and let him down easy. yeah, that would work, _i thought.

"ok," i said

"you will?" Gray said looking surprised

"i just said yes didn't i?" i said

"thank you," he said as he left. i was about to lay down again when he gave me a quick peck on the cheek and left. i blushed. _geez,_ i thought, _i love Natsu, but still a kiss is a kiss._

** after the date at lucy's apartment**

"can i come in?" Gray asked.

_shit,_ i thought, but smiled and said, "sure"

we talked for a while, but after 30 minutes he stood to leave. _i prefer when Natsu's here because we can talk about anything, _i thought,_ we never run out of things to talk about._

Gray gave me a hug (i stayed limp) and whispered into my hair, "i love you, lucy"

at that i pushed him away and looked away. "Gray..." i started.

"did i do something wrong? i'm sorry i didn't mean to rush things." he said sounding worried

"no, it's not that Gray. you didn't do anything wrong... it's just that there is no rushing things because... because there is, well _there is no thing_... there's no us...," i said looking down

"what do you mean?" Gray asked sounding hurt.

"i'm sorry, Gray, it's just that when you came here this morning i thought i could let you off easy, but you were just so happy tonight that i couldn't bring myself to do it." i replied, feeling mad that i was hurting one of my friends.

"so, you don't love me?" he asked

"no, i'm sorry, my heart already belongs to someone else." i said, feeling relieved i said the truth

"natsu," he said sounding disappointed

"i... is it that obvious?" i asked

"yeah, but when you said you would go out on a date with me i thought i was wrong and that you did have feelings for me." Gray said

**gray's pov:**

i acted disappointed. for some reason it wasn't that hard. it was like when she said she loved Natsu something inside me just broke and i didn't even have to act anymore. that was when i realized why i was doing this. it wasn't for natsu, but it wasn't for lucy either. it was for me. it was for me because some part of me wished that lucy did love me and not natstu like i already knew

"i'm sorry," she said one more time.

her beautiful lips quivered and her face was pained

i turned my back on her so i wouldn't have to see her anymore, so i wouldn't be tempted to kiss her like i had this morning, because even though Natsu and i sometimes fought we were like best friends and i would never hurt the idiot on purpose.

"He loves you too, you know." i said

i looked back one more time to see her lips formed in a beautiful "o" and a sparkle of hope in her eyes. i smiled and said, "you two deserve to be happy," i told her

"Gray..." she started, but i was gone before she finished speaking.

**lucy's pov:**

i looked at my watch. _it's 9:15 levy, where are you? _i thought. i was waiting at **FOOD, FOOD, AND MORE FOOD **for her.

"did you do it?" i heard a familiar voice say. it was Natsu.

"yeah," another familiar voice answered. this one was Gray's

"what did she say? does she love me?" Natsu asked

"yeah, she loves you," Gray answered gruffly

"yessss" Natsu answered

_they...they set me up. it was all a joke. they played me. they hurt me. and i told gray i loved natsu and now they must be laughing their asses off, _i thought

tears streamed down my face as i stood up. i walked over to their table and Natsu feigned to be worried.

"why are you cry..."Natsu started

SLAP

"lucy, what are you..." Gray also started

SLAP

"you are both ass-wholes who deserve to go to hell," i said

"lucy, wait, what did we do?" Natsu asked catching up to me and grabbing my wrist, seeing my tears his eyes said he was worried, but after what i just heard...

"what did you do?! what did you do?! like hell you don't know!" i said twisting my hand out of his grip

"lucy, i really don't know" he said

"my one mistake, is letting myself believe that stupid lie you told Gray to tell me,"i said, walking away

"what lie? all i asked him to ask you is if you loved me or not," he said following me

"like hell you did Natsu"i shouted

**natsu's pov:**

_what the hell did Gray tell Lucy? _i thought

_maybe i should let her cool off for a while, _i thought as i slowed to a stop

_what am i thinking? if i let her run off now she might never want to see me again, _i thought starting to run after her again

out of no where, Loke appears and holds me back.

"let go Loke, i have to go after her," i told him. i tried everything. not even after i burst into flames could i get him to even loosen his grip on me.

"we need to talk," he said looking angry

"but i have to..." i started

"sit down and talk to me, you are so right," he said forcing me down.

"why is Lucy so mad at you?" Loke asked

by the time i had finished explaining everything to him it was 10:30.

"ah, so stupid Gray messed it up," Loke said now comprehending everything

"i messed what up?" Gray said from behind me.

"what did you tell Lucy you jerk?" i said grabbing him by the collar of his shirt

"all i told her was that you loved her" he said pushing me away

i sighed. "loke can you..."

"of course," Loke said

"thanks man," i said

**lucy's** pov:

i sobbed. i hated myself for letting myself hope, even if it was for the slightest moment, that Natsu could love me back. for allowing myself to dream that my only wish could come true. i cried myself to sleep, with my head in my pillow.

i woke up to see Loke leaning against the wall, looking concerned.

"what are you doing here? i didn't summon you?" i said

"did you already forget that i can use my own magic power," Loke reminded me

"i guess so," i said

"lucy, whats wrong?" he asked as he sat down next to me. i told him everything and when i started crying again, he held me protectively, for once, being serious.

"lucy, maybe you misunderstood them" he said pulling away to look at me

"how can i misunderstand that?" i told him, anger and hurt heard clearly in my voice.

"maybe Natsu sent Gray to ask you if you loved him because he loves you, but didn't want to ruin your friendship if you din't feel the same way, but in the process, Gray realized he loved you too. ever think of that?" Loke asked her seriously

i was speechless. "go look for Natsu, lucy, i think he really loves you."

i ran outside and took a shortcut to Natsu's through the forest. instead of meeting him in his house i met him in the forest when i fell on top of him

"Lucy , i..." i cut him off

"i know, i'm sorry, i was just confused and scared that what Gray had told me was a lie, so i got paranoid, i'm sorry" i told him

he pulled me into a hug and said,"but it's not Luce, i really love you, and i mean more than the nakama kind of love i mean this kind of love," he finished before he kissed me long and passionately on the lips.

"i know that know Natsu," i said when we finally pulled apart and i put my head against his chest. "i was just scared that..." i started but was cut off with the feel of something warm on my lips.

"i know lucy, i was scared too," he said as he smiled at me. as i pulled him down for another kiss i finally told him what i should have told him months ago. "i love you Natsu"

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i dont kno bout this 1. i like my first story bttr but idk u guys tell me:) thx 4 ur support!


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